Garment-supporter



(No Model.) I

T. TILLOTSONV v GARMENT SUPPORTER. No. 343,408. Patented June a, 1886.

UNITED STATES THEODORE TILLOTSON,

PATENT OFFICE.

oF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GARM ENT-SUPPO RTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 343,408 dated June 8, 1886. Application filed November 3, 1885. Serial No. 161,739. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE TILLoTsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chi. cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and Improved Fabric-Supporter; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of devices commonly employed for supporting or holding in proper position certain articles of wearing-apparel, such as stockings, shirt-sleeves, 85c.

My invention, however, is not limited to the provision of an improved device for the foregoing purposes, but is intended to afford superior advantages wherever it is desired to temporarily support a fabric of any texture in firmly-adj usted positionas, for instance, closing the canvas fly-doors of tents, fastening hunting coats or jackets, securing lap-robes or water-proof blankets in carriages, 860.

My invention consists in the general construction of my improved device, whereby the foregoing ends are accomplished; and it further consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, all as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is afront elevation of my improved device, showing it attached to the end of astrap, and illustratingjits application as a stocking-supporter; Fig. 2, an enlarged front elevation of the device; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and showing a fabric clamped in the device; and Fig. 4, a perspective View showing the clasp portion of the device out of clamping-contact with the frame and in position to receive a fabric to be supported.

A representsithe frame portion of the device, composed of highly elastic wire or light rod metal, preferably round, and bent, also preferably, into the form of an isosceles triangle, having its apex t, which supports the fabric to be held, curved as shown. The clamp B, which holds the fabric in its adjusted position over the rounded apex of the frame portion A, is U-shaped in general contour, and is conpreferably, a thickness the same as that of the material composing the triangular frame portion A. The shanks of the clamp B are bent to form rings 1, encircling each a diverging side of the part A, and the neck or lower portion is bent backward and then forward, as illustrated in the drawings, to afford a hook, p, which hook passes over the apext of the part A, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for the purpose hereinbefore specified.

The clamp B,secured by means of the rings 1' to the part A, is slid backward upon the latter when it is desired to make use of the device. clamp portion, surrounding as they do each a diverging side of the frame portion A, will be spread apart as the movement progresses, and, since the material forming the contrivance is of a highly elastic character, the tendency is toward an ever-increasing resistance; hence, when the parts are released, the clamp portion B, impelled by the tendency of its shanks and of the sides of the part A to regain their nor-- :.mal positions, is forced forward until brought to rest by impact of the hook p against the art t. p In operating my device the part B is drawn backward sufficiently far to permit itshooked extremity p to pass out of contact with the part t and fall into the position illustrated in Fig. 4. The fabric to be supported is then placed beneath the apex t of the triangular frame portion A, the part B withdrawn sufficiently to permit the hook p to return to its normal position against the part it and allowed to spring forward into the said position, thus firmly securing a fold of the fabric in the manner indicated in Fig. 3. It will thus be seen that the holding effect of my device is entirely automatic in its operation, since, owing to its form and to the nature of the material of which it is composed, its normal position in which it clamps the fabric, is that represented in Fig. 2, and the construction also presents the advantage that while it holds the object to be sustained with sufficient firmness for all the purposes to which it may be applied, it does not present such a degree of resistance against displacement without separating the parts of the article clamped by it as would tear the fabric.

It is not absolutely necessary that the part A of the device shall have the exact form il- In this operation the shanks of the lustrated, since there may be various modifications of the same made by bending the wire that would effect the same purpose, and such modifications are included in my invention, which, broadly stated, involves the springy nature of the device, already described, and which causes it to clamp automatically.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A fabric-supporter comprising a frame portion, A, of elastic material, having diverging sides, and a clamp portion, B, to slide upon the diverging sides of the part A, and provided with a hook portion, 12, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A fabric-supporter comprising a triangular elastic frame, A, and a clamp, B, having its ends bent to encircle the diverging sides of the frame, and bent toward its center to afford a hook, p, maintained normally against the apex of the frame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A fabric-supporter comprising a triangular elastic frame, A, rounded at its apex, and an elastic clamp, B,having rings 0', formed toward its opposite extremities and encircling the sides of the frame and bent toward its center to afford a hook, p, maintained normally against the under side of the apex of the frame A by the form and elastic nature of the device, substantially as aud for the purpose set forth.

THEODORE 'IILLOTSON.

In presence of- Mason BROSS, XVM. Sammie. 

